The present application claims the benefit of priority from Danish patent application No. PA 1999 01507.
The present invention relates to collecting bags for human body wastes and, in particular to a collecting bag of the kind which for draining purposes are formed with a reclosable discharge opening in addition to the inlet opening for connection of the bag to a body orifice.
This type of drainable collecting bags are often used as ostomy bags. In the case of ileostomy patients and colostomy patients with uncontrolled release of faeces of a more or less fluid consistence as well as in the case of urostomi patients, the collecting bag has to be emptied rather frequently, and the closure device thus has to be easy to open and re-close after emptying and at the same time provide a reliable and tight seal in operation, ie. between emptyings.
Several different designs of closure devices for ostomy bags have been developed to meet this object and are generally known.
Examples of such prior art closure devices have been disclosed e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 2,520,831, U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,133, U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,343, WO 96/19164, GB-A-2 000 683 and GB-A-2 268 065.
From published international patent application WO 99/25278 a closure device is known, by which opening and closing of the bag is carrier out in two distinct stages by successive operation of first and second closure means, said distinct stages being separated by the bag occupying an intermediate position in which only the first closure means is activated. The first closure means comprises a first pair of contact surfaces between first and second folding lines and between the first folding line and a limiting line, respectively, which are brought in contact by folding the discharge porion along the first folding line and are maintained in contact in the intermediate position as well as the position of use of the bag. The second closure means comprises a second pair of contact surfaces which are maintained in contact only in the position of use of the bag.
In the first stage of the opening of the bag the second closure means is opened and the discharge portion is directed into the correct position over a toilet or the like with the bag in the intermediate position, whereas in the subsequent second stage the first closure means is opened to achieve a controlled discharge of the bag contents. After the discharge the discharge portion may be closed again in two distinct stages comprising closing of the first closure means followed by the closure of the second closure means, whereby the advantage is achieved that rinsing of the discharge portion after emptying of the bag may be carried out in the intermediate position to remove soiling of the discharge opening cause by the newly discharged body wastes.
Whereas this solution offers essential advantages in respect of easier operation requiring less dexterity and a logical and obvious order of activation/deactivation of the first and second closure means together with an improved security against leakage due to the capability of the first closure means to hold the bag closed in the closed and intermediate positions and the additional leakage protection provided by the second closure means in the closed position, the folding operations needed to bring the discharge portion from the position of use to the opened position via the intermediate position and vice versa requires a certain minimum width of the discharge portion between the outer contours of the joined side edges thereof to enable easy manual operation also in the frequent cases where ostomy patients have significantly reduced dexterity. Typically the width of the discharge portion in its flat condition will be between 60 and 80 mm.
Since in prior art ostomy bags of the type defined the cross-sectional dimension of the discharge passage provided from the interior of the bag through the discharge portion towards the discharge opening at the distal end thereof is defined by seams such as welding seams, adhesive seams or any other suitable type of seams joining the side edges of the discharge portion, the size of the discharge passage will by and large be determined by the minimum width of the discharge portion needed for the purpose of easy folding and unfolding.
Experience with collecting bags of the type defined have shown that, whereas the control of discharge of the bag content when emptying the bag is excellent for the majority of users including ileostomy patients for which the bag content may be relatively thin, the discharge control becomes less satisfactory when the bag content is more or less entirely liquid as is the case for urostomy patients and newly operated ileostomy patients due to the width of the discharge passage.
It is the object of the invention to remedy this inconvenience and provide a significantly improved control of the discharge of liquid or very thin waste fluids when emptying the collection bag is effected, while at the same time offering an external width of the discharge portion sufficient to maintain easy manual operability of the discharge portion by folding.
According to the invention a collection bag for human body wastes is provided, comprising a bag member formed by two film blanks with joined edges, an inlet opening provided in one of said film blanks, connecting elements surrounding said inlet opening for connection of the bag to a body orifice, an elongated discharge portion having a proximal end connected with the bag member at a distance from the inlet opening and a distal end defining a discharge opening, said discharge portion having substantially parallel side edges and a minimum width between said side edges permitting manual folding of the discharge portion in a longitudinal direction thereof along a folding line crossing said discharge portion between said distal and proximal ends to bring the discharge portion from an open unfolded condition to a closed folded condition and vice versa, comprising the improvement that a narrowed discharge passage is formed in said discharge portion between said side edges, said passage having a width less than 60% of said minimum width of the discharge portion.
By narrowing the discharge passage with respect to the total external width of the discharge portion a significantly improved control of the discharge of liquid or very thin waste fluids when emptying the collection bag is effected, while at the same time offering an external width of the discharge portion sufficient to maintain easy manual operability of the discharge portion by folding.
In one embodiment the discharge portion may be formed by two end sections of said film blanks, which are joined along said side edges, and the discharge passage may be defined by seams joining said end sections substantially parallel to said side edges, the distance between said joining seams being more than 10 mm, but less than 60% of the distance between outer contours of said joined side edges of the discharge portion.
By a further implementation of the invention a collection bag of the kind set forth is provided, comprising
a bag member formed by two film blank with joined edges,
an inlet opening provided in one of said film blanks,
connecting elements surrounding said inlet opening for connection of the bag to a body orifice,
an elongated discharge portion having a proximal end connected with the bag member at a distance from the inlet opening and a distal end defining a discharge opening, said discharge portion having substantially parallel side edges and a minimum width between said side edges permitting manual folding of the discharge portion in a longitudinal direction thereof along a folding line crossing said discharge portion between said distal and proximal ends to bring the discharge portion from an open unfolded condition to a closed folded condition and vice versa,
comprising the improvement that
a narrowed discharge passage is formed in said discharge portion between said side edges, said passage having a width less than 60% of said minimum width of the discharge portion, said discharge passage being substantially tubular in said open unfolded condition of the discharge portion.